“Did I ever think I’d be on so many different teams? No,” said the former Edmonton Oil Kings’ starting goalie, who got his first sniff of an NHL game Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks, sitting at the end of the Edmonton Oilers bench as the reliever-in-waiting and watching Ben Scrivens at work.

His fifth different hockey jersey.

The kid who was nicknamed L.B. when he played junior here didn’t get a cameo in the San Jose Sharks 5-2 victory. But just being at Rexall Place in an NHL jersey — he wore No. 1, following in a long line of No. 1s that run the gamut from the forgettable Peter Ing to the great Grant Fuhr — and not a Western Hockey League jersey was special stuff.

He sat all by himself in a corner of the Oilers dressing room after the game Tuesday, far away from Scrivens and his partner Viktor Fasth’s stall, with Fasth’s pads the only evidence that he was around Tuesday as he tries to recover from a suspected sprained neck in a practice accident Monday.

With Fasth hurt and the Oklahoma City Barons playing Tuesday night against San Antonio (a 2-1 OKC win), the door opened the door for Brossoit here, although he’s smart enough to know that “if they had their way (Richard) Bachman would be up here, but they’re (OKC) is making their (playoff) push.”

Brossoit was supposed to arrive in Edmonton about 11 p.m. Monday, but his flight was delayed five hours from OKC and he missed his connection in Denver. He was up at the crack of dawn Tuesday, and didn’t get to his hotel until 2 p.m., had a quick bite and found his way to the rink. Goalie coach Freddie Chabot did his best Brossoit imitation at morning practice, tugging on the tools of ignorance so there would be two targets in net.

“A nightmare, but I got here,” said Brossoit, with a wry smile.

Indeed, it’s been the circle of life for the 20-year-old. He played in Abbotsford (AHL) and in Alaska (ECHL) when he was in the Calgary Flames system. Then he got traded to the Oilers in the Ladislav Smid deal in November, and he’s played in Bakersfield (ECHL) and in Oklahoma City(AHL).

Now he’s at stop No. 5, stopping pucks in the NHL. At least in warmup.

“A hectic year. I’d never been traded before…if you’d ask me to define how this year would go, I definitely wouldn’t have thought I’d be on five different teams,” said Brossoit. “Five different jerseys, three different leagues, three different numbers. I’ve been number 30 and 31 and this is the first time I’ve been No. 1 since I was a kid. Why No.1? I just got here and they told me I was No. 1.”

He’s certainly not going to argue. It was an NHL jersey, and he was tickled to be on the bench and in the Oilers dressing room.

While he was pulling for Scrivens to blank the Sharks again after his 59-save show-stopper Jan. 29, a little slice of him had to be hoping he might get a look.

“A lot of scenarios cross your mind, and I’d be lying if something like that doesn’t go through your head, but I honestly want the best for the team,” he said. “And having such a quick turnaround, for me to make my NHL debut, I’d like to be better prepared and feeling a little better, but if I had to go in…”

He’d have been thrilled.

Maybe if the game had really gotten out of hand with the Sharks up 5-1 with seven minutes left in the third, Oilers coach Dallas Eakins might have gone to his bullpen for Brossoit, but the Oilers outshot San Jose 13-6 in the third period. So, Brossoit will be at practice Wednesday morning. He doesn’t know how long he’ll be in Edmonton — Fasth might not be out that long. He’ll just take it one day at a time, not one period at a time.

“It’s nice to get your first call-up over with, the nerves and all. How it runs here, so if there’s a legit call-up (not an emergency summons), it doesn’t all hit you at once,” said Brossoit, who had a 21-9-2 record in Bakersfield with seven shutouts, and seven games in OKC with spottier results (2-5, 3.60 avg).

Brossoit was dumb-founded when the Oilers traded for him. It seemed the Flames gave up on him awfully quickly, after signing him.

Calgary does have a hotshot college player Jon Gillies, but Brossoit said he didn’t feel let down.

“Jay Feaster (former GM) called me and said the trade had nothing to do with them being upset at my development,” he said. “They were actually very fond of me and had nothing but great things to say. It was a matter of them needing a defenceman, and the Oilers wouldn’t negotiate with anyone else,” he said. “To get traded for a player like Ladislav Smid was a huge confidence builder to know I had some value.”

It didn’t hurt that his former Oil Kings GM, Bob Green, had gone to work for the Oilers in the scouting department.

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